THE Joondalup Wolves are now the last remaining unbeaten team left in the men's SBL for 2015 after beating the South West Slammers on Saturday night with the Lady Wolfpack also scoring an impressive win to start off the evening.

There were three women's matches on Saturday night with the Willetton Tigers beating the East Perth Eagles 74-68 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, the Joondalup Wolves downing the South West Slammers 85-63 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns winning a thriller 78-75 over the Cockburn Cougars at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

It was a jam packed night of men's action starting with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Rockingham Flames 99-88 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Perth Redbacks defeating the Goldfields Giants 122-108 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Willetton Tigers also beat the East Perth Eagles 99-90 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre while the Joondalup Wolves downed the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Cockburn Cougars won a tight one 93-91 over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

In the women's action on Saturday night, the Tigers kept their unbeaten start going against the winless Eagles but Willetton had to work hard for the eventual six-point victory at Morley.

The Eagles led 52-49 heading into the last quarter, but the Tigers outscored them 25 to 16 in the fourth period to win their fifth game to start the season and hand East Perth its seventh straight loss this year, and 23rd overall dating back to last year.

Louella Tomlinson led the way for the Tigers with 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots while shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line. Zoe Harper contributed nine points and 11 rebounds.

Ebony Antonio added 10 points and four assists for Willetton with Lisa Wallbutton adding nine points, Lara Napier eight and Melissa Marsh seven.

Stephanie Jones did all she could for the Eagles finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds while Kelsey Maffin added 19 points, nine boards and three assists.

Jodee Sontay contributed 12 points off the bench with Haylee DeSousa finishing with nine points.

The Eastern Suns got their first win of the season winning a terrific contest with the Cougars by three points at home on Saturday night.

Madeleine Dennis led the way for the Suns off the bench with 20 points and four rebounds while hitting 3-of-5 from downtown.

Thea Lemberger also added 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for Kalamunda with Jessie Edwards finishing with 15 points, 16 boards and four blocks while Melissa Moyle added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Natalia Soli'ai 12 points and 10 boards.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith had a remarkable performance again for the Cougars with 34 points, eight rebounds and three assists while shooting 13-of-23 from the floor and 3-of-7 from deep.

Katie Loberg also had 22 points and seven boards for Cockburn with Taryn Priestly finishing with 10 points.

The Wolves then improved to a 3-1 record by notching a comprehensive 22-point win over a Slammers team who now slips to 4-2 after winning their opening four of the season, and now losing their last two.

Rebecca Mercer led the way for the Wolves with 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots while Ellyce Ironmonger contributed 12 points and 10 boards, Nikita-Lee Martin 11 points and seven rebounds, and Nonila Martin eight points and seven assists.

Patricia Bright top-scored for the Slammers with 15 points and five rebounds with Deanica McCormick adding 13 points and Kelly Bastow 13 points.

Then in the men's action on Saturday night, the Buccaneers won their sixth straight match handing the Flames a second consecutive defeat with Geraldton winning by 11 points in Rockingham.

Carter Cook led the way for the Buccaneers with 21 points and six rebounds with captain Mat Wundenberg outstanding again with 19 points and 17 boards.

Bennie Lewis also contributed 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Buccs with Quincy Hankins-Cole also adding 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Daniel Thomas added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds as well.

Tom Remmerswaal did all he could for the Flames finishing with 30 points and eight rebounds with Cooper Land contributing 24 points and seven boards, and Ryan Godfrey 12 points and six assists. Jarryd Griffin also pulled in 12 rebounds for Rockingham.

The Redbacks won their second straight match coming off a run of three losses beating the Giants in Kalgoorlie by 14 points on Saturday night.

Ray Turner had a remarkable performance for the Redbacks with 45 points and 20 rebounds on the back of shooting 16-of-22 from the field and 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.

Fellow import Marshall Brown also had 30 points and six boards for Perth with Ben Smith contributing 12 points, Joel Wagner 10 and 10 assists, and Dennis Tawhiti eight points and eight rebounds.

Jay Bowie did all he could for the Giants finishing with 40 points, six assists and five rebounds trying to match what Tucker was doing for the Redbacks.

Jacob Holmen added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Giants with Russell Hurst finishing with 12 points and nine boards, Mathiang Muo 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Edin Zunic 11 points and six boards.

The Tigers then won their fourth straight match this season while handing the defending champion Eagles a sixth straight defeat with Willetton winning by nine points at Morley on Saturday night.

Corey Easley led the way off the bench for the Tigers with 32 points while Kyle Armour added 20 points and five assists, Ephrem Davis 10 points and Damien Scott 10. Andrew Black had 11 points and five assists also off the bench for Willetton.

Rhys Vague led the way for the Eagles with 26 points and 16 rebounds with Drew Williamson adding 18 points, eight assists and four boards.

Sunday Dech also contributed 17 points and nine rebounds for East Perth and Joe-Alan Tupaea 12 points and seven boards.

The match of the night pitted the two remaining unbeaten men's teams up against one another in Eaton and it was the Wolves who prevailed by 16 points to improve to a 5-0 record while the Slammers slip to 7-1.

Trian Iliadis top-scored for the Wolves with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists but it was the number of strong contributors that Joondalup had was the reason for victory in the finish.

Ben Ironmonger added 17 points for the Wolfpack, Damian Matacz 14 (eight rebounds), Joel Questel 13 (six assists), Kevin Davis 13 (eight boards), Rob Huntington 12 and Sean Easther 11 (four assists).

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 26 points while Clive Weeden added 17 points and seven rebounds, Brian Voelkel 15 points, 11 boards and seven assists, and Trent Worthington 20 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

The final match of the night then saw the Cougars storm home in remarkable fashion to keep the Eastern Suns winless in their last four matches this season.

Kalamunda appeared in control after three quarters leading 73-63, but then Cockburn piled on 30 final quarter points to just 18 to end up winning by two points and to improve to a 4-3 record in the process.

Eric Millam led the way for the Cougars with 23 points and 16 rebounds while Najee Lane also finished with 23 points and seven boards. Gavin Field contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Cockburn but he wasn’t asked to play a lone hand.

Grant Davey added 14 points off the bench as well while Ben Stanley scored 11 points.

Seva Chan did all he could for the Suns finishing with 31 points for the night with Kevin Anthony contributing 21 points and Lien Phillip contributing 14 points and 11 boards.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
East Perth Eagles 68 lost to Willetton Tigers 74
South West Slammers 63 lost to Joondalup Wolves 85
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 78 defeated Cockburn Cougars 75

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Rockingham Flames 88 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 99
Goldfields Giants 108 lost to Perth Redbacks 122
East Perth Eagles 90 lost to Willetton Tigers 99
South West Slammers 93 lost to Joondalup Wolves 109
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 91 lost to Cockburn Cougars 93

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by HoopShots